BIOSPECIMEN CORE: PROJECT SUMMARY The Biospecimen Core (Core 2) is the cornerstone of all Yale SPORE in Skin Cancer (YSPORE) activities. It addresses the broad melanoma patient specimen needs of all the projects that are not met by current shared facilities at Yale. In addition to collecting, storing and distributing a wide range of specimens and reagents, the core performs quality assurance testing and a wide range of molecular analyses of specimens. More specifically, the core: a) collects a large repertoire of specimens for translational and preclinical studies in melanoma, including melanocytic lesions, melanoma tumors and cells, normal skin, serum, and circulating lymphocytes; b) ensures high quality control, proper long-term storage, detailed annotation, and timely distribution of specimens to YSPORE investigators; c) establishes and maintains a central database of essential pathological, clinical, epidemiological, and follow-up information and basic research data generated by the YSPORE projects that is integrated with the Biostatistics and Bioinformatics Core; d) provides special services such as the analysis of specimens from clinical trials, mutations, chromatin modification, and collection of TIL (tumor infiltrating lymphocytes); e) maintains and distributes validated reagents (antibodies, oligonucleotides for PCR, DNA, RNA, plasmids, cell extracts) needed for molecular analyses of tumors by different YSPORE investigators; f) establishes links with shared facilities at Yale and similar resources in other institutions, including other SPOREs; g) distributes samples to collaborating investigators outside of Yale; and h) provides specimens for larger NCI objectives, such as melanoma specimens, peripheral blood lymphocytes, and annotated clinical data for The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA). The core interacts extensively with investigators in each project, the Bioinformatics and Biostatistics Core, the Clinical Trial Office, and Yale Cancer Center shared resource cores such as Yale Pathology Tissue Services and Yale Center for Genome Analysis. The services of the Biospecimen Resource Core enhance the efficient operation of the translational studies by YSPORE investigators in a cost-effective manner, and expedite the application of discoveries from the bench to clinical practice, and clinical results to basic research.